logo
Egypt's state-affiliated TV says two fuel trucks set to enter Gaza

Egypt's state-affiliated TV says two fuel trucks set to enter Gaza

Straits Times2 days ago
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
CAIRO - Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said on Sunday that two fuel trucks carrying 107 tons of diesel were set to enter Gaza, months after Israel restricted the entry of goods and aid into the Palestinian enclave.
Gaza's health ministry has said fuel shortages were hindering the operation of hospitals, adding that doctors had to prioritise services at some of their facilities. There was no immediate confirmation whether the trucks had entered Gaza.
Fuel entry has been rare since March, when Israel restricted the flow of aid and goods into the enclave in what it said was pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages it took in its October 2023 assault on Israel.
Dozens have died of malnutrition in Gaza in recent weeks, according to Gaza's health ministry. It said on Saturday that it had recorded seven more fatalities, including a child, since Friday.
Israel blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza and says it is taking steps for more aid to reach its population, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas, air drops and announcing protected routes for aid convoys.
U.N. agencies have said that airdrops of food are insufficient and that Israel must let in far more aid by land and quickly ease the access to it.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, said 35 trucks have entered Gaza since June, nearly all of them in July.
More than 700 trucks of fuel entered the enclave in January and February during the ceasefire, before Israel resumed its major offensive in March.
The Gaza war began when Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostage in an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Israel's offensive has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive. REUTERS
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

More Gazans die seeking aid and from hunger; burial shrouds in short supply, Asia News
More Gazans die seeking aid and from hunger; burial shrouds in short supply, Asia News

AsiaOne

time5 hours ago

  • AsiaOne

More Gazans die seeking aid and from hunger; burial shrouds in short supply, Asia News

CAIRO/GAZA — At least 40 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes on Gaza on Monday (Aug 4), including 10 seeking aid, health authorities said, adding another five had died of starvation in what humanitarian agencies say may be an unfolding famine. The 10 died in two separate incidents near aid sites belonging to the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in central and southern Gaza, local medics said. The United Nations says more than 1,000 people have been killed trying to receive aid in the enclave since the GHF began operating in May 2025, most of them shot by Israeli forces operating near GHF sites. The GHF said there were no incidents at or near their sites on Monday. Reuters was unable to verify where the incidents took place. Bilal Thari, 40, was among mourners at Gaza City's Al Shifa hospital on Monday who had gathered to collect the bodies of Palestinians killed a day earlier by Israeli fire as they sought aid, Gaza health officials said. "Everyone who goes there, comes back either with a bag of flour or carried back (on a wooden stretcher) as a martyr, or injured. No one comes back safe," Thari said. At least 13 Palestinians were killed on Sunday while waiting for the arrival of UN aid trucks at the Zikim crossing on the Israeli border with the northern Gaza Strip, the officials said. At the hospital, some bodies were wrapped in thick patterned blankets because white shrouds, which hold special significance in Islamic burials, were in short supply due to continued Israeli border restrictions and the mounting number of daily deaths, Palestinians said. "We don't want war, we want peace, we want this misery to end. We are out on the streets, we all are hungry, we are all in bad shape, women are out there on the streets, we have nothing available for us to live a normal life like all human beings, there's no life," Thari said. There was no immediate comment by Israel on Sunday's incident. The Israeli military said in a statement to Reuters that it had not fired earlier on Monday in the vicinity of the aid distribution centre in the southern Gaza Strip. It did not elaborate further. Israel blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza and says it is taking steps for more aid to reach its population, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas, allowing airdrops and announcing protected routes for aid convoys. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he would convene his security cabinet this week to discuss how the military should proceed in Gaza to meet all his government's war goals, which include defeating Hamas and releasing the hostages. Deaths from hunger Meanwhile, five more people died of starvation or malnutrition over the last 24 hours, Gaza's health ministry said on Monday. The new deaths raised the toll of those dying from hunger to 180, including 93 children, since the war began. UN agencies have said that airdrops of food are insufficient and that Israel must let in far more aid by land and quickly ease access to it. Cogat, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, said that during the last week, over 23,000 tons of humanitarian aid in 1,200 trucks had entered Gaza but that hundreds of the trucks had yet to be driven to aid distribution hubs by UN and other international organisations. Israel's military later said 120 aid packages containing food had been dropped into Gaza "over the past few hours" by six different countries in collaboration with Cogat. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said on Sunday that more than 600 aid trucks had arrived since Israel eased restrictions in late July. However, witnesses and Hamas sources said many of those trucks have been looted by desperate displaced people and armed gangs. Palestinian and UN officials said Gaza needs around 600 aid trucks to enter per day to meet the humanitarian requirements — the number Israel used to allow into Gaza before the war. The Gaza war began when Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostage in an attack on southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Israel's offencive has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials who do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive. [[nid:720926]]

Italy moves to tighten controls on gender-affirming medical care for minors
Italy moves to tighten controls on gender-affirming medical care for minors

Straits Times

time6 hours ago

  • Straits Times

Italy moves to tighten controls on gender-affirming medical care for minors

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The law will regulate medicines such as puberty blockers and feminising or masculinising hormones for those under the age of 18. ROME - Italy will tighten controls on the supply of gender-affirming medical care for minors, according to a draft law approved by the government that has triggered protests from transgender rights advocates. The law, passed by the Cabinet late on Aug 4 but still subject to parliamentary approval, will regulate medicines such as puberty blockers and feminising or masculinising hormones for those under the age of 18 who are experiencing gender dysphoria. In a statement, the government said it was needed 'to protect the health of minors' and introduce 'effective data monitoring'. Gender dysphoria is the clinical diagnosis of significant distress that can result from an incongruence between a person's gender identity and their assigned sex at birth. The new Bill states that gender-affirming medicines will only be dispensed following protocols yet to be drafted by the Health Ministry, and, pending that, after approval by a national ethics committee of paediatricians. It also sets up a national registry at the Italian Medicines Agency to monitor 'the correct use of (these) medicines' and collect the detailed medical histories of each transgender person undergoing treatment. 'This is a form of profiling of trans people, with all their sensitive data, in the hands of a government-nominated agency... it is extremely serious,' Ms Roberta Parigiani, a spokesperson for the Trans Identity Movement, told Reuters on Aug 5 . Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 'She had a whole life ahead of her': Boyfriend mourns Yishun fatal crash victim Singapore Doctor hounded ex-girlfriend, threatened to share her intimate photos, abducted her off street Singapore Beauty industry consumers hit by 464% rise in prepayment losses in first half of 2025 Business Singapore retail sales up by 2.3%, driven by sales of motor vehicles Singapore Over 5,900 vape products found in car at Woodlands Checkpoint Singapore Locally developed VR tool can detect pre-dementia with almost 90% accuracy Singapore 13 taken to hospital after accident involving SBS buses, car in Tampines Sport Singapore National Olympic Council launches book series honouring local athletes She said that introducing more layers of screening for the approval of gender-affirming medical care was concerning, as it increases the risk that treatment may be delayed for young teenagers or pre-teens waiting for it. 'It's not like you can wait one or two years,' Ms Parigiani said. Under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a self-described enemy of what she and her allies call the 'LGTB lobby' and 'gender ideology', Italy has a right-wing government that espouses so-called traditional family values. In the nearly three years that it has been in office, Ms Meloni's coalition has made it harder for same-sex couples with children to be both recognised as legal parents, and has made it illegal for any couple to go abroad to have a baby via surrogacy. The draft Bill could be rejected or substantially amended by parliament, but given that Ms Meloni's coalition has a solid majority and backs its objectives, there is a high chance it will be approved. REUTERS

China to offer free pre-school education from autumn
China to offer free pre-school education from autumn

Straits Times

time7 hours ago

  • Straits Times

China to offer free pre-school education from autumn

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The announcement comes a week after China said it would offer parents the equivalent of US$500 (S$644.44) a year for each child under the age of three. BEIJING - China said on Aug 5 it would introduce free pre-school education from the autumn, as the world's second most populous nation seeks to boost childbirth in the face of a looming demographic crisis. China's population has declined for three consecutive years , with United Nations demography models predicting it could fall from around 1.4 billion today to 800 million by 2100. There were just 9.54 million births in China in 2024, half the number in 2016, when Beijing ended its one-child policy after more than three decades. The population declined by 1.39 million in 2024, and China lost its crown as the world's most populous country to India in 2023. Marriage rates are also at record low levels, with many young couples put off having babies by high child-rearing costs and career concerns. On Aug 5, China's Cabinet, the State Council, announced: 'Starting in the fall semester of 2025, childcare and education fees will be waived for children attending public kindergartens in the year before school'. The policy aims to 'effectively reduce the cost of education, improve the level of public education services, and provide education that satisfies the people', the State Council said. Beijing described it as an 'important measure that concerns thousands upon thousands of households and relates to long-term development'. Funding for the new measure would be shared between the central and local authorities, while children attending approved private kindergartens would also be eligible for fee reductions. The announcement comes a week after the country said it would offer parents the equivalent of US$500 (S$644.44) per year for each child under the age of three. At a news conference in Beijing last week, National Health Commission (NHC) official Wang Haidong acknowledged that the country had 'gradually shifted from a phase of population growth to a phase of population decline'. 'The childcare subsidy system can directly increase people's cash income,' Mr Guo Yanhong, vice-minister of the NHC, said. Chinese leaders have in recent years struggled to breathe life into the economy, beset by a years-long property crisis that has spooked would-be homebuyers and dissuaded many people from having children. China's shrinking population is also ageing fast, sparking worries about the future of the country's pension system. There were nearly 310 million people aged 60 and over in 2024. AFP

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store